[bpbrooksy]

May 15th, 1961

VS

The team headed into Chicago on getaway day last night. We don't play until 8:05 this evening, so we had a chance to take in some of the sights. I suppose the White Sox are our natural rival now; they're certainly the closest team geographically.

Al Lopez is a great manager. He hasn't had a losing record in a decade, and his 1954 Indians won 111 games. He also holds the great distinction of being the only man to unseat the Yankees for the pennant since 1949 - and he's done it twice.

This year, however, the Sox are 14-17 and five games back after a bit of a slow start. We have the chance to jump them in the standings if we can put together a pair of wins here.

CHICAGO (15-17) - 2
MINNESOTA (12-19) - 1
WP: Juan Pizarro (4-3) / LP: Ray Moore (2-4)

Yet another tough late loss.

Jim Landis started the scoring with an RBI double in the third. Killebrew's fourth homer tied it in the fourth inning. From there, the game settled down, with no scores until Sherm Lollar's walk-off single in the ninth. The Twins only got three hits today, and wasted a nice start from Kralick.

That's Moore's fourth loss of the year. His 9.22 ERA is less than dazzling. Meanwhile, we've got lefty Wally Seward (1.42 ERA, 5.7 K/9) and rookie Johnnie Stott (1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP) out in the front end of the bullpen. I'd like to see more of Stott, personally, but it's not my call.

However, Cookie is flexible and would probably be willing to heed my advice if I asked him. I think we'll have that conversation on Thursday while we're heading back to Metropolitan Stadium.

CHICAGO (16-17) - 6
MINNESOTA (12-20) - 3
WP: Gerry Staley (2-0) / LP: Ray Moore (2-5)

Well, at least we got this heartbreaker out of the way early?

Ray Moore is 34 years old. He had a 2.88 ERA and 13 saves for us last year. That was probably his best season ever, and this is easily shaping up to be his worst. We were up 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth, and after Kaat allowed the Sox to tie the game, Moore came in and gave them three more. He's officially forced my hand, having almost single-handedly blown the whole trip to Chicago.

26-year-old Bob Meisner homered today and seems to be developing into something. He's hitting .297/.385/.436, and his 0.9 WAR is second only to Versalles, who has the edge thanks to a little more power and a little more surehandedness in the diamond.

May 18th, 1961

VS

Cookie and I talked yesterday and he's agreed to give Stott a look during the later innings.

We'll see if that makes anything better in this next series. The Athletics are in town; currently fifth and four out of first. We lost both games at Municipal Stadium back in April, and we have Pedro Ramos - the Winless Wonder - taking the ball first.

MINNESOTA (13-20) - 4
KANSAS CITY (15-16) - 2
WP: Jackie Collum (1-2) / LP: Don Larsen (3-3)

It's a walk-off winner for the Twins! With the score tied at two in the bottom of the ninth, Harmon Killebrew took baseball legend Don Larsen deep for a game-winning two-run homer.

It was a solid back-and-forth game, with the A's taking the lead twice and the Twins eventually knotting the score both times. Ramos struck out eight through seven innings, and still couldn't get himself his first win of the year. Johnnie Stott pitched four outs, allowed two hits, and struck out two A's.

Allison also homered in this one. He has eight to lead the team, and Harm is behind him with five now. Bilko hasn't homered since we played the Angels, but still leads the league.

May 19th, 1961

KANSAS CITY (16-16) - 2
MINNESOTA (13-21) - 0
WP: Jim Archer (2-3) / LP: Camilo Pascual (4-2) / SV: Don Larsen (6)

No runs to speak of today for the Twins, who outhit the A's 7-6 but lost by two. Pascual only walked one today, but he only struck out three, too.

Just over 6,000 present today. That's one of our higher marks, but it was also just 50 degrees this evening. Minnesotans are hardy, but most of them are waiting until it warms up to head down to the park.

May 20th, 1961

MINNESOTA (14-21) - 3
KANSAS CITY (16-17) - 2
WP: Ray Moore (3-5) / LP: Don Larsen (3-4)

Another walk-off, and a series win for Minnesota! It's our second series win in the last three series.

This one was a bit of a heart-pounder. Both teams scored in the first, and then nobody scored until the ninth with the exception of an RBI single for Battey in the middle innings. Kralick had gone seven strong, and Moore had pitched a clean eighth, so Cookie ran him back out there for the ninth, but Moore gave up a run and the A's had tied it.

It didn't take long to uneven the score, though - with Larsen pitching in the home ninth, Bob Meisner notched a walk-off double. His 16th RBI of the year, and the team's second walk-off of the series.

Despite the exciting win, Minnesota is still last in the league with a .400 winning percentage - the same as Washington's. We're eight back and any hopes of contention this year have pretty much evaporated. But with no draft and no free agency, there's no real incentive for the team to be tanking; so we'll continue to try and improve this team little by little.

May 20th, 1961

VS

It's Sunday afternoon, and the Clevelanders have come to town. It's the first time we're squaring up with the Indians this year. We're playing a doubleheader today, then ending the series on Monday afternoon.

The Indians are 18-17 and four back of the first-place Orioles. They're coming off a two-game sweep of the Yankees at home, and have won their last three. They're a few years removed from Al Lopez's pennant-winning 1954 team, and it's been 13 years since they won it all in 1948.

CLEVELAND (19-17) - 7
MINNESOTA (14-22) - 3
WP: Mudcat Grant (2-4) / LP: Jim Kaat (0-1)

Not our best out there today. The Indians has a lot of extra-base hits, and we left a lot of men on base, scoring just three late runs despite our 2-7 hitters reaching base 10 combined times.

CLEVELAND (20-17) - 3
MINNESOTA (14-23) - 2
WP: Bill Dailey (3-2) / LP: Ray Moore (3-6) / SV: Dick Stigman

Second verse, same as the first.

Cookie Lavagetto is following the letter of the law, but not really the spirit of it. I asked him to move Stott into the ninth inning because Moore was blowing too many games. His response was to then move Moore to the eighth inning, where he's pretty much just as dangerous...to us. The same held true today, as Moore earned his sixth loss of the young campaign and blew a 2-1 lead to the Indians.

The Twins got 11 hits off Cleveland starter Bill Dailey, who packed his bags for Triple-A Salt Lake City after the game was over. Meisner had three knocks, one of them a double, and is now hitting .303.

Week in Review

• AL Player of the Week: LF Gene Woodling, WSH (.400, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
• NL Player of the Week: 3B Ken Boyer, STL (.452, 1 HR, 2 RBI)

Woodling is one of a handful of bright spots for the Senators, who have already given up 230 runs as team. For perspective, we're a game behind the ninth-place Senators, and have given up 180. Our problems are in the offense, whose 142 runs scored is second-worst in the AL.

POWER RANKINGS
1. San Francisco Giants (22-13)
2. Baltimore Orioles (26-15)
3. Boston Red Sox (22-16)
4. Cincinnati Reds (20-15)
5. Cleveland Indians (20-17)
...17. Minnesota Twins (14-23)

In the power rankings, we are ahead of only the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have one fewer win than we do.

The Indians have won four in a row and are tied with the Yankees and Tigers for third, but the Orioles keep plugging along and have pushed their lead to 2.5 above Boston, the new second-place squad.

In the National League, the Giants have taken four in a row and eight of their last ten, and occupy first place. The Phillies, who had that post last week, have dropped five straight.